...but, we did want to keep you updated on a lone Halo related news item this week, and more importantly, take the time to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year. Except the traditional Chinese. We'll get you later on!

On this very special day we bring you inside Bungie Studios. Kind of. Inside Bungie and inside the rageling that is Mat Noguchi. Enter a world which we should never have been so irresponsible to expose you to in the first place.

GamingTV.org Video Intro Contest

This contest is for the official GamingTV.org video intro - there are great prizes up for grabs, and a two week time-frame to craft your intro. Read more for full details.

Guidelines:

1.ANY game can be used, if you wish. Even no game can. Halo-Splinter Cell, whatever. Be Creative!2.Length can be 10 seconds to a minute, but please do not go much longer than that. 3.Quality MUST be great. No crappy resolutions please, thanks. 640x480 or higher, please. If you cannot meet this requirement please contact me. 4.BE CREATIVE! Judging will look at several things and I can say originality, creativity will be paramount. 5. Must be completed by Jan 3, 2007. 2 weeks.

vCash is virtual cash spendable on a few things in our forum, if you weren't aware. Most will be interested in the top 2 prizes. You submit your work in the GTV forum thread.

The video intro will not be required on all vids after the contest, but encouraged. Creativity is the key with this contest. Any game can be used-Halo, or any game you wish. Or no game at all-just be creative.

Welcome to the last Bungie Weekly Update of 2006, where we basically wish you all happy holidays and head off into the sunset. Or snowstorm, for those of us unlucky enough to be going anywhere near Colorado. Anyhoo, jump in, jump out and go enjoy the break.

Give the Gift of Bungie

Give the gift of Bungie this Holiday Season. Desperate for a last minute gift? Can't get hold of a Cabbage Patch Kid or whatever the young people are into these days? Why not give an electronic gift certificate to the Bungie store, and stop worrying about UPS 3 Day shipping, and Target parking lots right now.

Click HERE to purchase lovely stuff for loved ones. Seriously, you can get them an electronic voucher and save them all the stress of actual bricks and mortar. They can buy all manner of Halo related swag, from music to bumper stickers to clothing. Go for it.

Wednesday morning, at 2am PST (Pacific Standard Time) on December 20th, we went Live on Xbox Live Marketplace with the next in our series of Vidocs - a series of video documentaries about you guessed it, Halo 3. This one's about Brutes.

The Gift - A Halo CE Chronicles Christmas Story

The Halo CE Chronicles machinima has released a story of Christmas on the first ring world found by man. It's available in a number of formats at the Halo CE Chronicles' website.

Filmed entirely on the Halo CE game platform the videos are available in WMP9 format, QuickTime and streaming Flash formats in High Resolution and Low resolution sizes. You can download them from The Halo CE Chronicles website. The videos are also mirrored at Halo Maps and Halo Movies. You can read the article on the story's inception at the Halo CE Chronicles website.

Xbox Community Awards 2006

Download the XCAs 06 presented by Gamertag Radio feat. Trixie, Peter Moore, Frankie, XBL Radio, Major Nelson, Planet Xbox 360, Podtacular & more. Find out who wins Podcast of the year, Community member of the year and more!!

The 2006 Xbox Community Awards show is now available for download from Gamertag Radio. We don't want to spoil the surprise. If you haven't already, go grab the show and give it a listen. There are plenty of special guests -- including Peter Moore -- and some funny skits and great musical acts, too.

Halo Base interviews speedrun champion Cody Miller

Halo-campaign fans listen up: Halo Base interviewed Cody Miller, the guy who beat Halo 2's campaign on Legendary in less than 3.5h without dying a single time and due to that he got his entry in the Guinness World Records.

How often he tried this fascinating speedrun until he finally was mentioned in the Guinness World Records as the first 'speedrunner' ever, and what his strategy was, to finish even the legendary Jackal-snipers without a single death - you'll find answers to all those questions in this interview on one of Europe's oldest Halo-fansites, Halo Base!

It's available in both German and English for you to read why (and how) Cody Miller played Halo 2's campaign much more often, than 70-80 times. Give it a look! It's worth every second of it...and time does matter in this case.

Oh noes! The power is out in half of Western Washington. Bridges are closed and Bungie has shuttered its windows and locked down 'til this little Typhoon blows itself out. The update proper is canceled as a result, but if you click through anyway, we'll address a couple O' rumors for you.

Finish the Fight

Marty O'Donnell has released the track from the Halo 3 Announcement trailer as a single and it's available for download. It's called Finish the Fight and you can only get it through the iTunes Music Store.

Play this track while you get dressed and it will be like putting on the most epic pair of socks ever.

Say hello to our newest friends in the game development biz - Certain Affinity. This new team founded by ex-Bungie multiplayer lead Max Hoberman is hard at work on new Halo 2 maps and a full game of their own. Read on for the scoop!

Violated Gaming 4 v 4 Tournament

ViolatedGaming.com is kicking off with a 4 vs 4 MLG online tournament on the 14th of December. Entry is completely free and all teams registered are guaranteed to play.

After months of development and a recent invite only test tournament Violated Gaming is now open for public participants. There is currently a 4 vs 4 tournament open and a few more are on the way before the holiday season is over. All tournaments are played online over Xbox Live! So what are you waiting for? Grab a team and head over to violatedgaming.com!

HIH Interviews The Wu

The admins over at HIH took some time to talk to Louis Wu about what it takes to run a successful fansite. There's some very useful info in there for anyone who would ever like to pursue such a venture, as Wu is the master.

A chunky update this week as we talk to Digital Domain, Machine Head and McCann Erickson about what it took to put together last Monday's Halo 3 TV ad, and we chat briefly about the secrets contained in the spot.

The Best of The Halouvre

The Halouvre, a site known for its collection of Halo HUDless images, celebrated its second birthday yesterday. As part of the celebration, a new gallery was created highlighting some of the best HUDless images produced by the Halo community over those years.

HUDless images are basically images that remove any trace you are playing a first-person-shooter (e.g. the gun, shield level, etc.). All that is left is the environment - and whatever cool action you want to capture. In addition to being really cool to look at, they make great wallpapers! Go bask in the HUDless goodness!

Halo 3 Ad Round-Up

The Halo 3 commercial aired last night shortly after Halo3.com went live. You can now find it on Xbox.com, XBL Marketplace and tons of other places. Hit our Halo 3 Forum and join the dissection, speculation and general insanity.

Also check out this impromptu Q&A session with Frankie on Bungie.org's IRC server last night.

Halo 3 Beta Shenaniganry

There's been a lot of rampant speculation going on today regarding the Halo 3 Beta and the sign-up page for it. Going through the now live Halo3.com is the only way in which you are guaranteed to have actually registered. Do not trust direct links to the sign-up form, only access it through Halo3.com.

If you've already registered via the direct link that some of our more rabid fans found earlier today, you may well have a perfectly valid registration, but from here on out you should only access the sign-up form through Halo3.com.

This is phase one. There will be more ways to enter the beta program, so don't panic. We will try to ensure that everyone who wants to participate has the opportunity to do so. The beta will be a world-wide affair, and every region that is elligible to participate, will. Much of the information on Halo3.com applies to the US only - so if you live in a different region, keep an eye on your local Xbox site for details.

New Bungie Gear

The Bungie Store was updated with some new items over the weekend. You'll find a new Halo 3 fleece jacket and a "No Scope To The Dome!" long-sleeve tee. Both the HGN and Art of Halo are also back in stock.

Halo2.Junk.ws Celebrates Second Birthday

Halo2.Junk.ws is celebrating its second birthday on December 4! We have over the last year expanded from 3,000 to 36,000 members and have now aggregated statistics for over 16,000,000 games.

Halo2.Junk.ws has grown at an extraordinary rate this past year, and
we've become larger than anyone ever expected. One year ago when we
announced our first birthday, we had just recorded our one millionth
game. We have since then recorded an additional 15 million games,
recording our 16 millionth overall game yesterday.
One year ago, our 3,000th member joined us. As of today we have over 36,000 members, nearly 8,000 of whom are regularly active. Some 1,500 of those 36,000 have been banned for having cheated on XBL. A year ago we had much-criticized limits placed on the number of new members we allowed; we are now capable of accepting as many users as wish to join.
One year ago we were just starting to record over 20,000 games in one
day. On weekends we now usually record over 60,000 games. On December 2, we recorded 70,000 games in a single day for the first time. We record approximately 5% of all games of Halo 2 played on XBL.